For the majority of alternative investment funds, the late
summer months provide an opportune window to reflect on the
recently completed financial reporting period and, in particular,
revisit the most recent experience with their service providers and
allocation of internal resourcing.
It can be a highly useful exercise to examine any identifiable
challenges in the annual reporting process. The ability to meet
deadlines is a key issue, due to the sheer amount of work and
resources required to prepare and maintain financial statements in
parallel to ongoing accounting and reporting, which may impact on
an already stretched internal accounting team. Furthermore, third
party administrators may not be well equipped to handle financial
statement requirements which are not within their core
capability.
The training and investment needed for staff to stay abreast of
ever evolving reporting standards across jurisdictions and
reporting bases can be costly, which can be challenging for small
teams given financial reporting may be limited to an annual
requirement. The opportunity to outsource the preparation of
financial statements and related services to a professional
institution of specialists has been broadly welcomed by the
industry as a positive approach to reducing costs.
The Maples Group has a highly experienced team, comprised of
former 'Big Four' auditors providing financial statement
preparation services to over 500 alternative investment funds each
year across a range of jurisdictions. Clients benefit from the
team's deep understanding of what's really required in the
audit process and the intricacies of what auditors are seeking. As
the number of investment funds within the portfolio grows,
consistency across the platform becomes increasingly important and
software and experience in managing large portfolios is
essential.
The industry's attraction to the outsourcing model for
financial statement preparation is evidenced by our extremely high
client retention rate. By coordinating and managing the audit
process, our teams are able to produce cost-effective, high quality
financial statements to meet, and where necessary, accelerate
reporting timelines. Attendance at board meetings and coordination
of debriefs with audit firms is incorporated into our full service
model.
With the ability to prepare financial statements across
international standards and frameworks, the adoption of market
leading software and a straightforward on-boarding process, the
Maples Group's financial statement preparation services allows
alternative investment funds to ensure full compliance with
regulatory and reporting standards, while being free to focus on
the management function and generating returns for investors.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.